Storms and Cocoa at 3:20ish in the Morning
by moonlit sprite
Summary: After a rude awakening, the last thing Jamie expected was to see a shivering, soaking wet Tina on his doorstep. Actually, a lot of things he didn't expect happened. TinaXJamie fluff. Please Read


Lightning flashed, lighting up the gloomy blackness of the sky above the vally. Rain poured down heavily from the heavens. A loud string of booming noises caused Jamie to startle awake. He woke up and froze before realizing that he was half laying, half falling off the couch in his living room. The TV was on but muted and a single lamp was luminating the room. He relaxed as his concious realized it was just storming. Stretching, he stood up and made his way to the lamp to turn it off.

Another loud round of booms echoed, this time seeming to come from his door. He paused; the noise was too rhythmic to be the natural booms of thunder. Slowly, he made his way to the door and just barely cracked it open. Peering out, he saw the strangest sight he had seen all day (besides Joe and Ray getting yelled at by Terry for skinny dipping in the river). Drenched to the bone and shuddering from the cold was Tina, smiling sheepishly on his doorstep.

"H-Hey . . ." her teeth chattered; how long had she been out in this weather? He stared at her silently.

"I was in Moonlight Cave and got stuck after falling into a hole . . . I didn't know it was storming . . . and I k-kinda had lost track of time . . ." she stared at his emotionless eyes and wondered if he was listening to her at all. She sighed.

"Would it be alright if I hung out here while I wait out the storm? Please?" Tina begged him, "It's really late and this was the only house I saw that had a light on . . . and it's a long walk back to my house . . . Oh, and also-"

"Just come inside . . ."

She blinked, surprised he had said yes so easily and hadn't argued with her like usual. Jamie opened up the door and she stepped inside, trying not to drip too much water on the floor. Looking around, she realized she had never been inside Jamie's home. Soft, olive walls and warm brown hardwood floors greeted her eyes. It was a simple but comfortable room.

Tina jumped as she heard the door close behind her.

"Hold on a second . . ." He walked around the corner and down the hall, disappearing from her sight. After a moment, he returned with a fluff white towel in his hands. "Catch."

She clumbisly caught the towel as he threw it and wrapped it tightly around her shoulders. "Thanks," she smiled at him softly.

He grunted softly in response and beconed her with his hand. Silently, he led her down the hall to the bathroom. "There's soap and shampoo on the shelf. You can find a wash cloth on the second shelf in the closet."

She nodded her thanks as he closed the door. Listening softly, she could hear his footsteps walking down to the other end of the hall. She shivered violently and quickly discarded her drenched clothes. Grabbing a washcloth, she turned on the water and stepped into the shower. Her muscles relaxed as the hot water ran over her skin. With praticed ease, she slipped the pony tail holders out of her pigtails, letting the wet hair fall down on her neck. Quickly, she washed her hair and body and rinsed off. As she shut off the water and stepped out onto the bathmat, she realized that she had no clothes. There was no way she was putting on her wet clothes. Besides, when she looked around, she realized that they were gone! Realization hit as it clicked with her; the only way her clothes could have possibly gone missing . . .

Tina blushed, realizing that Jamie must have come into the bathroom and picked them up. He had been in the same room with her while she was stripped of all her clothing . . . her face had to be flaming be now if it wasn't already. There, on the counter, she spotted a neatly folded pile of clothes. She picked them up, discovering a large, floppy purple t-shirt and a pair of black boxer shorts.

Jamie looked up from his mug of hot chocolate when he heard footsteps coming from the hallway. Tina stood there akwardly, twiddling her thumbs while at the same time trying to increase the amount of coverage the t-shirt gave her. He would never admit it, but he secretly liked the way she looked in his clothes. Also, with her hair down, she looked less childish and more . . . the words slipped his mind as she spoke.

"Thanks for letting me use your shower," she said, trying to break the silence.

He nodded slighly to her and sipped his cocoa. When he looked up, she was still standing there akwardly in the door frame of the hall. He raised an eyebrow slightly. "Are you gonna stand there all night?"

She hmphed at him and made her way over to the worn brown leather couch and sat beside him. "Here," he said, thrusting a steaming mug into her hands. "Drink."

Silently, they sat there, drinking cocoa as the storm raged in all its fury outside the house. Thunder boomed and the windows lit up from erratic flashes of lightning. Tina cleared her throat; if she was stranded here with Jamie, she might as well try and make small talk.

"So . . ." she started, breaking the silence, "What were you doing at this hour of the morning when I got here? It's what? 3:20ish?"

His eyes darted away guiltily. "You weren't asleep were you?" she asked, shocked.

"Well, that is what people tend to do at 3:20ish in the morning . . ." he trailed off into the night.

"But, but . . . the lights . . . and . . . and . . . Ah, I'm so sorry! I didn't mean to wake you up! If I had know you were sleeping I wouldn't have knocked! Ah, I'm such an idiot! Please forgive me-"

"If you will shut up and be quiet I will!" He exclaimed, exguasted by her frezied outbursts. Her mouth clamped shut dramatically and he sighed.

"Just never mind," he grumbled. "I'm awake now so it doesn't-"

BOOM!

Tina shrieked and jumped on Jamie as thunder shook the house and the power went out. Because of her crazy antics that were never suspected, his cocoa had spilt all down his shirt.

"Damn it! Tina! Calm down!" he shouted annoyedly. "It's just a power outage; no reason to jump me!"

She felt her face redden, "What?" she exclaimed.

Jamie sighed and mentally face palmed himself. "I said "It's just a storm. No reason to-" he froze, realizing just what he had exactly said.

"N-not like that!" he stammered out, thankful for the darkness that was hiding his blush. "Look, just cause your scared, don't attack me like that in the dark. And don't go misinterpreting my words into weird stuff." he gruffed. "Got it?" She nodded but then realized that he couldn't see her. "Yes." she squeked out timidly.

As soon as they had gone out, the lights flickered and the power came back on. Feeling the now cold cocoa sink into his skin from where she had knocked it out of his hands, Jamie deciede he need to go change. He made to get up but couldn't because of the fact that Tina was practically straddling him. This was _not_ good; the girl he secretly liked was sitting on _his_ lap wearing nothing but _his_ t-shirt and boxers. Yeah, definetly not good. He cleared his throat and she blinked cluelessly at him. She really was hopeless . . .

"You made me spill my cocoa when the lights went out . . ." she still didn't get the big idea. "I need to go change?" he tried again. Her face lightened with realization and she fell backwards into the other cushion on the couch. "Sorry . . ." she mumbled, but he wasn't listening. Jamie stood up and exaimed his shirt. The entire front was cold, wet, and sticking very uncomfortably to his skin.

"At least it wasn't my poncho . . ." he mummured under his breath as he pulled the shirt off over his head. "I'll be right back," he told her. She nodded back dizzily, her cheeks flushed.

"Hey, are you ok? You look kinda sick . . ." Usually, Jamie didn't bother to worry about other people (it was their own fauly if they got sick), but he had grown a closeness to the girl that he couldn't explain.

"I-I'm fine . . . you go ahead and change . . ." she stammered out. She gave a small smile and sipped her still fully intact cocoa, trying to asure him that she was fine. He was skeptical but went anyways. Barely glancing into his closet, he grabbed a black v-neck t-shirt and tugged it on.

"_Wonder what was wrong with her . . ."_ he thought to himself. With ease, he tossed the soiled shirt into the hamper and walked out of his room. "_Oh well. It's not like she-"_ he froze midstep in the hallway. He blinked slowly before hitting his head against the wall.

"_!" _His mind screamed at him. Realizing she might hear and come investigate, he stopped abusing the poor wall mid head bang and trudged back to the living room.

His expression soften at the sight before him on the couch. Tina was cuddled up into a small ball, squished up in the corner of his couch. Gingerly, he tiptoed over to the couch and rocked back on his haunches. She looked so peaceful . . . laying there like that. Finger brushed gently across the top of her head, trying desparately not to wake her (what would she say if she opened her eyes now?). It was no problem for his strong arms to pick her up; as he walked to the bedroom, she snuggled her face into his chest.

"Jamie . . ."

He froze, thinking she had woke up. Tensely, he looked down, only to relax when he saw that she was only talking in her sleep. _"But that would mean she's dreaming about me . . ."_ He shook his head to clear his thoughts and stepped into his room. Gently, he layed her down on his bed, pulling the heavy blankets over her. He turned around silently to make his way to the couch but was stopped by a hand clutching onto his arm tightly. Sighing, he lay down beside her, careful not to disturb her. Quickly, his eyelids began to grow heavy and he yawned.

_"How did I ever end up here?"_ he wondered. _"Ah, what the hell . . ."_

"Goodnight . . . Tina." he whispered and kissed her forehead before falling asleep beside the girl who would never know how much he loved her.


End file.
